COMPANY OVERVIEW Our Client, Atlas EPS, is a customer-oriented, environmentally conscious manufacturer of expanded polystyrene (EPS). They are an industry leader in promoting energy efficiency and conservation. They have one of the largest EPS production facilities in North America, multiple plants and UL certification. One of their major product lines is Geofoam. This EPS product is a lightweight, versatile fill material that is used for soil stabilization, foundation fills, and other geotechnical applications. It is engineered with consistent physical properties for the highest level of stability and predictability, making it ideal for transportation or structural projects and clean, quiet fill for hospital and occupied commercial projects. Geofoam can substitute for soil and other materials that are heavy, can settle, or have limitations in handling. Geofoam can arrive at the jobsite prefabricated and ready to use. THE POSITION This position reports to the Geofoam Product Manager and plays an important role in the continuing development of the Geofoam market segment for the company. PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES The Product Support Specialist’s primary responsibility is to support the sales of Geofoam to new as well as existing customers. Specific responsibilities include: Reading and interpreting structural, landscape, architectural and civil engineering drawings to calculate quantities for quotes on Geofoam projects Managing Geofoam projects and relationships with customers in conjunction with Sales, Customer Service, Scheduling and Production Producing plans and “shop drawings” of the areas in which EPS foam will be used in projects Providing support materials, technical product information, drawings and guidance as needed Designing fabricated parts as needed Providing/gathering data...

A recent report of business confidence* noted that while U.S. business leaders are confident in their ability to succeed in the future, far too frequently they are not aligning investments, incentives, and organizational changes. They are not innovative enough; leadership is not bold. Organizations are not keeping up with the pressure to find, develop and keep the right talent. While technology companies live by innovation, it is just as important for all organizations, including traditional, old line companies, to be imaginative. Whether a multi-billion-dollar, a mid-market, a start-up or a family-owned organization, the challenges are similar. Technology will be the tipping point between growth and decline. Having associates who understand and effectively work with this technology is critical. You must recruit them if they aren’t already part of the organization; if they are, you must encourage them to stay. Technology is something that you can touch and feel. It sometimes comes with instructions. That’s the easy part. Talent is the “magic potion” that makes it happen. The rate of change in technology creates a skills gap within many organizations that few are committing sufficient resources to overcome. Future-thinking organizations have a culture that attracts talented individuals and encourages their development. Most organizations aren’t there yet. Some aren’t even trying. Leadership that can help an organization look for new ways to do things as well as consider new ideas is at a premium. The pressure will continue on finding, attracting, challenging, developing and retaining these talented individuals. There is a lot written about a talent shortage. At the same time, LinkedIn has thousands of individuals who are interested in another...

Usually summer comes with its own disruptions. This year we spell it out with a capital D. In the U.S. we have several more months where we will continue to be bombarded by the racket kicked up by the presidential elections. Brexit has created a very high noise level, not only in the UK, but throughout Europe. How much distraction can a human tolerate? A challenge each of us will have sooner or later is to not let it divert our attention. Here are a few coaching suggestions that you may find helpful. Understand what is important. There will be lots of interruptions. Some may truly be important to you; others, just confusing. Don’t get drawn into long conversations without understanding it is happening. Focus. Don’t let the clatter of politics sidetrack you from what is really important. Most of us will spend some time keeping up with what is happening; make certain it is a reasonable amount. There are still things that we need to accomplish in the next few months. Keep them in the forefront. What is in your control. If you spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about political issues, how can you do what is really important – whether running a business or finding a job? Be mindful of how you spend your time – you do control this. You make the decision to involve yourself in conversations or watch news programs. You control the power button! Know when to use it. Walk away from it. Political discussions can consume a great deal of energy. This election-heavy time frame has the potential to generate...

What This Survey is About? “Women leaders in Business? I guess so. I mean, sure.” Not exactly a clarion call to the ramparts. But a fair reflection of the level of enthusiasm for gender diversity in business leadership that we found in this, our latest, global business survey. Cornerstone International Group’s 10th annual survey zeroes in on the subject of women leaders in business. This seems to be coming back onto the front burners this year. Not, unfortunately, in a good way but in the form of recent studies suggesting the momentum behind the movement was slowing. For the past few years, reporting on the issue of gender diversity has been guardedly optimistic. Women have been winning prominent positions in major international companies. And that’s exactly what we found. Please download the report and let us know what you think! SURVEY HISTORY Cornerstone International Group is an organization of Executive Search and Leadership Development experts with members in 66 locations. Since 2008, we have surveyed our business clients in 36 countries on their challenges and expectations. The report is timely: a brief questionnaire is limited to two issues, the economy and a feature subject which this year was the status of women leaders in business. The composition of respondents is given at the end in the section NATURE OF THE...

What is Emotional Intelligence? There are a lot of articles written about Emotional Intelligence and how an individual can increase it. I would encourage you to use the internet to learn more. Understand what EI is and what it means. Become comfortable with the concept. After that, begin your own efforts to enhance the areas where you feel you need to improve. A good starting point is to concentrate on four things: • Recognize your own emotions • Balance your needs and the needs of others • Be attuned to other people • Get along with others We use assessments as part of every search we do to better understand candidates and how they fit the organization. Our assessment evaluates Self Confidence, Self- Motivation, Interpersonal Relationships and Adaptability. These are all founded in Emotional Intelligence, and indicate how an individual manages themselves and their relationships with others. Our goal is to not only identify candidates who have the skills and knowledge required, but also who best fit an organization. Once a part of the organization, these same tools help make certain they succeed. We spend a great deal of time determining an individual’s “fit” into the organization. You could say part of our search process is determining how strong an individual’s Success Quotient is. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Larry C. Shoemaker is President of Shoemaker & Associates/Cornerstone Atlanta. He specializes in retained search, leadership assessment and coaching. He is also President of Cornerstone International Group, a global retained search organization comprised of about 70 independently owned offices located around the globe. Headquarters are in Shanghai, China and Atlanta, GA. He holds an...